Of Spirits And Humans
by xXBalorBabeXx
Summary: Old wounds should never be reopened... but their fallout can be a lot more intense.
1. Taking Exception

_**Last night, NXT Live Event…**_

" _Calm down, Finn… I got knocked down, okay? It's not the first time it's happened." Amanda said, trying to calm Finn down as he held a gel pack onto the left side of her face… during their six person mixed tag match, she had been kicked off the apron by an aggressive Alexa and her face hit the side of the steel steps._

 _She didn't lose consciousness and wasn't bleeding or disoriented… but the ref stopped the match and called it a draw, which had angered Alexa._

 _Aestrid was walking around and walked over to them, asking what had happened._

" _Alexa got a bit too angry… well, more so than usual." Finn responded._

" _He's worrying too much…" Amanda replied, trying not to let the pain show but Aestrid could see through the facade like Finn could._

" _Sometimes I think that I'd pay to see her get a well deserved boot up the crack." Aestrid said, having long liked Alexa no more than they did._

" _When Hunter said that Alexa was looking for someone to help her when she first signed with the company, I should've told the old man to find someone else… stiff shots every once in a while, I can understand, it's happened before. Adrenaline runs high in that ring. Using an opponent as a punching bag, that's a different-" Amanda said._

 _Amanda stopped talking and muffled a painful groan, Finn putting the gel pack back on her face… and Aestrid left, grabbing Alexa by her right arm when she found the blonde and red ombre haired diva and dragging her down the hall._

" _What the hell?!" Alexa demanded after Aestrid finally let go._

" _Yeah, my thoughts exactly when I see you like a savage beast out there on Amanda!" Aestrid growled, her eyes narrowed and angered._

" _Savage?! Reckless, maybe." Alexa said defensively._

" _What I don't get is that you know her neurological history and you targeted her head anyway and for what reason?! You knew Finn was gonna lose it!" Aestrid said._

" _Yep… and every moment was worth the outcome." Alexa said with a smile, a smile that said she really hadn't even put any thought to Amanda's neurological health._

 _The sickening smash and shrill scream that echoed made Finn and Amanda jump._

" _Oh, damn…" Amanda muttered._

" _She ain't a wrestler with us but she can sure hit like one…" Finn said, looking up towards the doorway._

" _Dean still hasn't forgiven her for giving him a black eye but he scared her with that Freddy Krueger mask." Amanda says as Aestrid walked in and closed the door. "Any blood?"_

" _Nope." Aestrid said._

 _When they were back at the hotel, Amanda was about to go crash with Sasha and Becky when Finn stopped her._

" _My room might only have one bed, love… but they can get damn crazy drunk after a night like tonight." Finn said, Amanda knowing that he was right and followed him to the elevator._

 _She leaned against him in her tired state once they were in the elevator… and he wrapped his right arm around her back as the doors closed…_

 **Present time,** _ **11/16/15 episode of Raw**_ **…**

"Your little baby brother, he didn't have much fight in him, did he?"

Charlotte's eyes narrowed in rage at Paige… but she didn't get a chance to strike. Before she could blink, Amanda's right arm slammed right into the left side of Paige's head which rendered the ravenette unconscious when she hit the mat, Charlotte's eyes wide with shock at her friend's actions.

Yes, it was breaking character and it was far from the first time with anyone in that ring… but Amanda had been as close with Reid as Charlotte had.

Without a word or another glance at Paige, Amanda left the ring and headed into the backstage area… all the times she and Reid had played together, had laughed, had watched movies all flashed to her.

A hand rested on her right shoulder and Amanda turned and saw Finn, who immediately pulled her into his arms and the two hugged.

"Words like that… just really stab a knife through the heart." Amanda said in a raspy voice as Finn lightly stroked her hair. "Reid and I were close as kids, Ric often joked in those days about how I would've… been a great wife for Reid and how Reid would've been a great husband. He was struggling but… in the last few days of his life, he seemed so strong. I didn't think any one of us would lose him… it gets better over time but it still hurts. Paige didn't need to bring it up out there… scripted or not, there was no need for it." She said as they looked at each other, her hands on his sides and his hands lightly cradling her face and brushing the tears away.

"That's right…" Both of them heard… but they couldn't see anyone else near them.

' _Reid, is that you?'_ Amanda thought… it wasn't the first time she had heard strange things or seen ghosts. "That would be less explainable if I was the only one who heard it…" She said.

"No, I heard that too…" Finn replied.

"There's… someone here. They… had been observing what happened out there tonight." Amanda responded… but before they could find out who, a now conscious and angry Paige charged over to them.

"What the hell was that out there?! You weren't scripted to hit me!" Paige growled.

"I don't like it when people speak ill of the dead, Paige! You had no right dragging Reid into your feud with Charlotte!" Amanda said angrily, Finn trying to calm her down.

"Why are you here?!" Paige asked, glaring at Finn.

"I had a match before _Raw_ and decided to stick around. Mandy acted without thought out there but you didn't and I was trying to keep her calm after you drove a knife through her heart." Finn answered, Paige not satisfied with that.

"Paige… you already brought up something that hurt me, stop yourself. I thought you were my friend." Amanda said, Paige turning to her with a look similar to Alexa.

"Don't you dare!" They all heard the same voice hiss as Paige had only just curled her toes before she'd even stepped forward.

"Who in the bloody hell are you?!" Paige asked.

"We heard that earlier… out of nowhere." Finn said, moments before they all heard a soft noise and saw a white dove landed on the window ledge, it's little eyes looking in at them.

Amanda reached her left hand out and the dove flew to her, landing on the side of her wrist and her petting it.

"They're very gentle creatures at times…" Amanda said. "Hey there…" She said.

"Hey…"

Amanda was startled as the dove had whispered in reply. The white bird then took off from her hand and landed on the floor… And started to shine a white light that gradually grew in size, and just before it was to the point of being blindingly bright, it faded… And where the bird had been stood, there was now a little girl, no older than 12, in a white dress with deep blue, baby-like eyes and light, golden brown hair reaching her shoulderblades, her hands entwined together in front of her stomach as she looked at everyone.

Paige tried to speak but couldn't form the words, the girl knowing it was from the shock.

"I won't hurt anyone… if anything, I'll prevent others from doing it." The girl said in a soft tone.

Paige left to get ice for her head, Amanda seeing that a bruise had formed.

"I… I had snapped out there…" Amanda said quietly.

"I understand, it's okay." The girl said after stepping over, her small fingers closing around three of Amanda's on her right hand.

"What's your name, kiddo?" Amanda asked.

"Ariel." The girl answered as she let go of Amanda's hand and returned it to closing around her other arm's elbow.

Amanda checked her own, seeing that it was starting to bruise.

"Mandy!" All three heard… but when Amanda and Finn looked back, Ariel was gone. It was when Hunter reached the two that he saw the looks on their faces.

"Hunter…" Amanda said, trying to appear as if she wasn't startled but Hunter could see it.

"What happened? That's not the look of the aftermath of Paige's insult on your face." Hunter questioned.

"There was… some little girl that was here." Amanda answered, Finn's left arm wrapping around her back to hold her up as soon as her legs started to buckle and helped her sit down. "I thought we were just hearing things… then a dove appeared. I reached my hand out, she flew to it… then onto the ground and… there Ariel was." She managed to explain, Hunter getting her to look at him.

"This isn't the first time she's shown up, kiddo." Hunter said, starting to explain.


	2. Sense Of Comfort

_**6/22/2007…**_

 _Chris was sitting in his basement/movie theater in Fayetteville, Georgia. He had been upset and angry lately so he decided to call someone he saw as his second daughter to his family because for some reason it just felt like that moment to tell something important to her.  
_

 _A few rings later and in Houston for the Vengeance: Night Of Champions pay per view, Amanda picked up her cell phone. "Hey Chris how are ya?" She asked._

 _Chris sighed and looked around his_ _theater_. _"Ok kiddo. Listen I need to tell you something very important_. _"_

 _"What is it, Chris?" Amanda asked.  
_

 _He ran his hands over his face and rubbed away to the tears. "Promise me that when you become a fighter you put your health first, don't just go on and leave the pain aside, kiddo."_

 _"Chris, you're kinda scaring me. Are you feeling okay?" She asked._

 _He gave her a humorless chuckle and nodded. "Yeah, I am kiddo, just Nancy and I are having that little rough patch."_

 _"Well I know that you two will work it out, you always do." Amanda said._

 _"Ever the optimistic, Amanda Cena." Chris said. She gave him a chuckle. "I love you, Mandy. I will always be there for you if you ever need me, you just have to look out for the Wild Pegasus."  
_

 _Amanda gave him another small chuckle. "You know I will. I love you too, Chris. I'll see you tomorrow."_

 _Chris gave her another goodbye and hung up from his surrogate daughter._

 _He walked out of the theater and it was the last time he'll ever talk to Amanda again._

 _ **July 14th 2007…**_

 _Evening had settled in Greenwich as Hunter pulled a blanket over a sleeping Amanda, lightly brushing her hair back… she had been staying with him, Stephanie and Aurora for the past two weeks, needing time away from the media in the aftermath of the tragedy and her own suicide attempt._

 _But Hunter heard a small rustling noise from outside and ventured into the backyard, seeing a small dove._

" _Hey there…" Hunter said quietly… and then the dove started to change._

" _Keep quiet…" The voice of a little girl whispered as the light shone, before it faded and Ariel was stood before him._

" _Who are you?" Hunter asked quietly._

" _I'm Ariel." Ariel answered._

" _Hi, Ariel… I'm Hunter." Hunter responded, Ariel looking at Amanda. "Were you… A Dove just now?"_

" _Yes." Ariel answered, looking back at him… And her blue eyes suddenly shining a glow of lime green with patches of pale blue, the texture seemingly rippling like water. "I am the angel of nature… The balance of life, the turn of summer to winter, hot to cold, sunshine to rain… I am the one who holds the cards."_

" _Mandy's not… feeling balanced anymore. She stopped talking after…" Hunter said, Ariel knowing what he was gonna say._

" _I know… And she won't for a while. But she will again." Ariel said, looking at the window and seeing a small potted plant that had started to grey and die in patches… That was until she trailed a fingertip over one of its leafs, instantly returning all colour and growth to it._

 _Amanda was near the baby monitor and heard the cries of her 11 month old goddaughter, Hunter not noticing Amanda get up and head upstairs to Aurora's nursery until he headed into the house with Ariel following._

" _Hi, Rora… hey, baby girl." Hunter and Ariel heard… Amanda's voice was a bit croaky but Hunter smiled when he heard it and Aurora babbling._

" _There's always something that brings someone out of grief…" Ariel said before disappearing as Amanda walked downstairs with Aurora in her arms._

" _Hunter? Everything okay?" Amanda asked, Hunter looking at them before walking over and wrapping his arms around her and Aurora._

 _Aurora clapped her tiny hands together and babbled happily, Hunter knowing that she missed hearing Amanda's voice…_

 **Present time…**

"I didn't know how to tell you, kiddo…" Hunter said once he, Finn and Amanda were in the office.

"Just like I didn't know how to tell you that I saw her tonight." Amanda responded.

"No one's ever sure how to explain these things." Hunter said before he let the two leave.

In their locker room, they sat down and Amanda felt Finn's right hand lightly rub the back of her neck and his fingers running through her hair.

Amanda thought that Ariel would've reemerged by now… but she guessed that the young angel was shy.

At the hotel later when both were asleep, thunder echoed… Amanda turned over to her right to try to get more comfortable as it had woken her partially.

But her sixth sense was ringing loudly… and she opened her eyes, seeing something observing her.

The screaming that followed woke Finn up and immediately, he pulled Amanda into his arms and rubbed his right hand up and down her back to comfort her. Something told him it wasn't a nightmare and he looked around the room, looking for whatever had scared her… but Finn couldn't see anything and turned his attention back to Amanda.

Amanda wasn't looking at him, her face buried into his torso and him feeling her tears soak into his shirt as her pulse calmed down from racing levels… when she did look up, her hazel eyes were red from crying and he brushed the last of her tears away before lying down with her still in his arms.

Her lungs and throat hurt from the screaming, trying to talk wasn't easy… so she didn't, letting him hold her instead.

At the same time, Ariel wasn't visible to anyone… but that didn't mean she didn't hear the screaming.

Or the yelling following it, the yelling indicating that Alexa was pissed off at being woken up.

"Fucking 3 in the morning and that Demon Whore is screaming! Gonna rip her throat out!" Alexa muttered as she left her room and charged towards Amanda and Finn's room.

"No you don't!" Ariel said, manifesting as a dove in the hallway again… But in an unnaturally large size, her body more the size of a Swan or goose than a normal dove, and eyes locked onto Alexa.

"How the hell did you get in here?!" Alexa asked.

"Let me answer that visually." Ariel replied before she shifted back into her little human girl form, but she retained the shining white wings which joined her at her shoulders. "Do I have to obey by the same laws of physics that you do?" She questioned before jumping and taking into a gliding flight, disappearing into the wall a few feet from where Alexa was stood. "I think not." Alexa then heard and jumped, seeing Ariel crouched down at the end of the hall, her wings disappeared.

Alexa screamed and ran off, waking several others.

"This is starting to feel like the _Amityville Horror_ movie!" Enzo said as he rubbed his eyes before Ariel appeared to him. "Hello…" He said, confused as to how she got into the room.

"Hey… Oh, that's good to see." Ariel said, Enzo confused and seeing that the second part had been as her eyes had drifted to a little potted cactus growing on the window edge.

"Usually are until one of them is used as a weapon against you… I take it that first scream was Alexa. She threw one at my head once." Enzo responded.

"Alexa was second… The first was Amanda. I think she was woken up, nightmare or loud noise… I get woken up sometimes too. When bad things happen to the forests." Ariel said, sitting down on the chair beside the room's desk where the TV and hot drinks sachets were.

"I worry about Mandy at times… she really hasn't had a decent night's sleep in a long time, she tries to hide her nightmares." Enzo said.

"Maybe I could talk to Gavreel…" Ariel said quietly.

"Who's that?" Enzo asked.

"Peace… He could put rest in her mind, maybe relax her more. Energy would be better but… She's always really busy." Ariel responded before she stood up and walked over. "I'm Ariel… In what I think is your common choice of words as humans, I'm Mother Nature." She introduced.

"Nice to meet you… I'm Enzo." Enzo replied.

"I don't like the name… Mother Nature. I'm not a mother, I've taken over from my mom… She can't take it anymore." Ariel said.

"Can't take what? I… Wouldn't have thought you as gods could be tired-" Enzo questioned.

"We're no gods… Just angels. But my mom was the real Mother Nature… And do you think we like it when you lot keep flattening all the nature and wildlife to put up all these cities, or slicing up the rainforests to build furniture and those buildings?" Ariel said.

"No but… that's not really in my control, Ariel." Enzo answered.

"I know, it's just…" Ariel said, sitting on the other chair. "I didn't understand before, just watching her… But now I'm in her position, I…" She trailed off, Enzo seeing her starting to tear up and turn her head down to her lap.

Enzo wrapped his arms around her, Ariel knowing that humans did that to comfort each other… but she hadn't been hugged by one before.


	3. The World As We See It

_**Six weeks ago…**_

" _Why would it matter to you? How can I be faulted for overprotective friends, it was your boyfriend who kicked me in the face!" Amanda yelled at a seething Alexa, who was upset about Finn dislocating Murphy's right arm after a kick to Amanda's face and left eye. "You noticed that Finn can be overprotective, why didn't you shout at Murphy to stop what he was doing?"_

" _Why would I? Yes, I have noticed and I knew he'd flip." Alexa said._

" _So why is it any of your concern? Mine and Finn's closeness doesn't affect you one little bit." Amanda said, turning to leave but Alexa stopped her._

" _And yet it caused him to flip out, didn't it?! If you two weren't 'close', personal things wouldn't have made him put Murphy on a fucking stretcher!" Alexa shouted._

" _Ain't my fault you picked a man with a raging temper… now unless you want to lose that hand, shove off." Amanda said._

 _Alexa backed up and Amanda left, walking into her and Finn's locker room… it was easy to see he was still angry so she was careful when she rested her right hand on his left shoulder and he reached his right arm over and squeezed her hand._

" _It's okay, Finn…" Amanda whispered as he turned around, pulling her to him after wrapping his arm around her back and lightly kissing her on her head… but he could tell from her shaking body that Alexa and Murphy had set the part in the match up and didn't tell anyone._

 _A knock at the door startled them before the door opened, Enzo's eyes widening in shock when he saw the black eye that Amanda had._

" _I take it Lexa's on a warpath?" Enzo asked after closing the door._

" _They set this whole thing up… she thinks Mandy and I are too close." Finn explained, Enzo turning angry._

" _That little bitch needs to back off…" Enzo mutters but they could see it._

" _You think she has a point to what she said, Zo?" Amanda asked._

" _She's not the only one who's noticed… but in this business, the relationships are closer than the ones at home." Enzo said._

" _You're right about that…" Amanda responded…_

 **Present time…**

It was early into the next morning when Finn opened his eyes, seeing that Amanda was still asleep… once again, he looked around but no one else except them were in the room.

His phone chimed, him picking it up and seeing a text from Aestrid.

' _What the hell was all that screaming last night, is Mandy okay?'_

' _She saw something last night, Ace. Don't know what it was but it scared her.'_ Finn replied.

' _Well you make sure she's alright, when wouldn't you?'_

Finn set the phone down after responding with _'You're damn right.'_ and looked, Amanda's sleepy eyes looking at him… this had happened before, blank spots in her memory.

But it wasn't that… she remembered clearly and was looking around until Finn got her to look at him.

"What you saw isn't here. It's gone." Finn said quietly.

"I don't know what freaked me out worse… seeing it or feeling like I couldn't talk after screaming." Amanda responded, the light rain hitting the window as the two hugged.

Amanda didn't want to get up even as Finn's fingers trailed up her right side.

"Too early to be awake…" Amanda mumbled.

"I know, I don't want to either… but things need doing and there's plenty of time to sleep again later. Got to get out to get in… that was just a touch inspirational, I'll be damned." Finn said, starting to joke halfway through.

Amanda let out a quiet chuckle, starting to feel a bit better after what had happened last night.

 **Meanwhile, hotel lobby…**

"Faked it?! That hair dye has killed your brain cells, why would anyone, much less Mandy, fake a nightmare?!" Bayley responded angrily at Alexa.

"To get me up for that stupid trick in the hall that those twins pulled! That's what they have to be, this 'Ariel' that's been around lately!" Alexa said, having now refused to believe that Ariel was even possible.

"The only twins I know of are Brie and Nikki and I'll admit, Mandy's pranks get crazy at times but not to that extent!" Bayley said.

"You're telling me you're stupid enough to believe in there being a little kid up there who's the 'boss' of life as we know it and Mandy ain't got anything to do with it?!" Alexa hissed, stepping around when the two heard a throat clearing.

"Well, not up there at least." Ariel said, stood as a human with her right hand holding her left wrist and her arms behind her back.

"They're nearly the same height too!" Alexa seethed.

"Not exactly Mandy's fault that she stopped growing at 14." Ariel said.

"And I suppose there was an all seeing purpose behind it, was there?!" Alexa said sarcastically.

"No." Ariel replied simply. "We're not operators of life and what we have power in, I don't tell every flower to face this way and every person when to stop growing. I'm not nature's driver, more it's engineer. Build and fix it where needed, then oversee it while all takes it's own course."

"So what the hell is going on here exactly?" Bayley asked, Ariel stepping closer to her.

"I'm Ariel, I'm the angel of nature, wildlife and that. Amanda saw something, I think one of the others got curious about what I'm doing here and accidentally appeared to her. Then I went and stopped Alexa here from running down and terrorizing her even more, by… well…" Ariel explained before a flash of light created her wings behind her.

Alexa left, getting angrier.

"Does she know any other emotion besides anger?" Ariel asked.

"Not really." Bayley answered.

It was at the arena later that Amanda had been walking around to clear her mind and stopped by a door… she closed her eyes, unaware of Murphy walking to her until he waved his hand in front of her face.

"These pranks need to stop." Murphy said as Amanda's eyes opened.

"No pranks here… well, not since you incidentally got hit with that paint can and I already apologized for that." Amanda responded, turning to leave but was stopped when Murphy grabbed her right arm.

"So who set up me to get electrically shocked when I turned a room light on?" Murphy questioned.

"These arenas are old, sometimes the electricity shorts out… now let go of me!" Amanda responded, tugging her arm towards her but he pulled harder on it and pinned her against the door.

Unfortunately, it wasn't closed completely and flew open, sending Amanda falling down the staircase and rendering her unconscious.

"Damn it…" Murphy hissed and started off down the stairs… but jumped back a couple as the ground started to shake and then, the last couple of stairs and the bottom floor level crumbled apart and opened into greyed dirt, which was soft like dry sand… soft enough that it began to swallow Amanda's unconscious body into the ground.

Murphy grabbed her and rushed back up the remaining stairs, closing the door behind him as Amanda's eyes opened halfway.

"Ow…" Amanda said quietly, rubbing her head as Murphy looked at her.

"You just almost got swallowed into the earth by a small sinkhole, you're gonna feel heavy after that." Murphy said.

"Nearly happened once before… but to a neighbor." Amanda responded as Finn ran to them.

"What happened?!" Finn asked as Murphy placed Amanda into Finn's arms.

"She fell… and then was nearly swallowed by a sinkhole." Murphy answered before going to find the paramedics as Amanda tried to move her back but was too disoriented to do so.

"He's not telling the whole truth…" Finn said.

"He'll explain it… at some point." Amanda said quietly, not bothering to hide her bruising wrist.

"He will." Ariel said quietly, stood a few feet away watching them.

At the same time, Hunter had walked out of his office and saw the medics rush past him, Hunter immediately catching up to Murphy.

"What happened, kid?" Hunter asked.

"It was an accident… the door gave out and she fell down the stairs…" Murphy answered, Hunter turning horrified.

When they reached the area, Amanda was already on the gurney and several other wrestlers were nearby, wondering what had happened.

Murphy looked and saw Ariel, walking to her.

"Can't prevent these kind of things… that door…" Ariel said.

"Is it defective?" Murphy asked, Ariel nodding.

In the nearby ER, Amanda was scratching at the IV, Finn gently stopping her.

"I know, you're going stir crazy here…" Finn said as Amanda tried not to fall asleep from the pain meds given to her.

She was also thinking that she would see the mysterious figure again… but at some point, she knew she'd have to sleep.


End file.
